The Healing Capacity of Your Body
The human body can generally heal scrapes, cuts, and broken bones, although some injuries take longer than others.
But you’re out of luck when it comes to repairing the little hairs in your ears.
Up to this point, at least.
Animals have the capability to renew damaged cilia in their ears, restoring their hearing, a trait that researchers are currently making an effort to reproduce in people.
That means you might have a permanent loss of hearing if you damage the hearing nerve or those tiny hairs.
At What Point Does Hearing Loss Become Permanent?
Upon discovering hearing loss, the initial concern that usually emerges is whether the hearing will be recovered.
It is uncertain if it will happen, as it depends on various elements.
Two primary forms of hearing loss:
- Blockage-related hearing loss: If your ear canal is partly or entirely blocked, it can mimic the symptoms of hearing loss.
Earwax, debris, and abnormal growths can possibly obstruct the ear canal.
The good news is, your hearing generally recovers when the blockage is eliminated. - Hearing loss caused by damage: But there’s another, more widespread kind of hearing loss that accounts for approximately 90 percent of hearing loss.
Known clinically as sensorineural hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is usually irreversible.
Here’s the way it works: tiny hairs in your ear vibrate when struck with moving air (sound waves).
These vibrations are then modified, by your brain, into signals that you hear as sound.
Prolonged exposure to loud noises can, however, lead to permanent damage to your hearing.
Injury to the inner ear or nerve can also trigger sensorineural hearing loss.
A cochlear implant can help bring back hearing in some instances of hearing loss, specifically in severe cases.
A hearing assessment can help in identifying if hearing aids would improve your ability to hear.
Solutions for Improving Your Hearing
Sensorineural hearing loss currently can’t be cured.
Treatment for your hearing loss may, however, be a possibility.
Benefits of correct treatment for your wellness:
- Make sure your general quality of life is unaltered or remains high.
- Effectively deal with any of the symptoms of hearing loss you might be dealing with.
- Take care of your remaining hearing to prevent further damage.
- Maintain connections and community involvement to prevent feelings of loneliness and solitude.
- Prevent mental decline.
This treatment can take many forms, and it’ll usually depend on how severe your hearing loss is.
A frequently recommended and fairly straightforward solution is the use of hearing aids.
How is Hearing Loss Treated by Hearing Aids
People who cope with hearing loss can use hearing aids to help them perceive sounds, allowing them to work as efficiently as they can.
Fatigue happens when the brain needs to work overtime to process sound.
As researchers acquire more knowledge, they have recognized a greater danger of mental decline with a consistent lack of cognitive input.
Your cognitive function can begin to be recovered by using hearing aids because they let your ears hear again.
Research has revealed that wearing hearing aids can significantly delay cognitive impairment, with some research indicating a reduction of up to 75%.
Modern hearing aids will also allow you to focus on what you want to hear while tuning out background sounds.
Prevention is The Best Defence
If you take away one thing from this little lesson, hopefully, it’s this: you need to safeguard the hearing you have because you can’t depend on recuperating from hearing loss. If an object becomes wedged in your ear canal, it can usually be safely removed.
However, this doesn’t diminish the risk posed by loud noises, which can be harmful even if they don’t seem excessively loud to you.
So taking measures to protect your hearing is a good plan.
If you are ever diagnosed with hearing loss later in life, you will have more treatment possibilities if you take measures to protect your hearing now.
Treatment can help you live a great, full life even if a cure isn’t a possibility.
To determine what your best choice is, schedule an appointment with our hearing care experts.